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'Beasts' Star Dwight Henry Also in McQueen's 'Twelve Years a Slave'

by Alex Billington
June 26, 2012
Source: Washington Post

"I'm your daddy, and it's my job to take care of you." Happy to report news related to one of my favorite films of the year, Beasts of the Southern Wild, which arrives in US theaters tomorrow (June 27th). I caught mention on The Playlist of a tip in The Washington Post's feature on Dwight Henry, co-star of Beasts, about his role in the upcoming McQueen film Twelve Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. Henry plays Hushpuppy's father Wink in Beasts. The latest project by British filmmaker Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) has a dream cast already, but adding one more up-and-coming talented actor only makes it better.

There's an interesting story to Dwight Henry - he owns and operates the Buttermilk Drop Bakery (website) in New Orleans, where they filmed Beasts of the Southern Wild. They would eat there, came to know him, realizing he was perfect, but "Henry turned them down three times." Now he's got a budding movie career. "I was reluctant to do it, to sacrifice my business that I had worked so hard to open for a chance at a possible movie career," said Henry. But they go on to say: "Now Henry and Nazie say they are both looking forward to more film work. Henry has partners helping out at the bakery while he works on his film career, including a part in Twelve Years a Slave, about a New Yorker who was captured in 1841 and enslaved in Louisiana."

McQueen's Twelve Years a Slave, written by John Ridley & McQueen and is slated to start shooting in the next few weeks, already has a cast that would make any producer salivate. On top of the extremely talented Chiwetel Ejiofor starring as Solomon Northup, who gets taken and enslaved, the cast includes: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Garret Dillahunt, Sarah Paulson and Scoot McNairy. Now you can add Dwight Henry to that list, too. If all goes well, we can probably expect this highly anticipated film to premiere at Cannes or another high profile fest next year.

Filed under Casting, Development, Movie News

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